Strange Alliances
by Gemini14
Summary: Not long after the Battle of Technologia, something happens that makes some ghosts from the past begin to return to the realm of the living...
1. Silent Call for Help

Strange Alliances

Started 2/20/2013

Part One: Silent Call For Help

It had all started with an attack from nowhere. Warrius Zero, captain of the space battleship known as the _**Karyu**_, sighed as he read over the reports that were coming in on his computer's terminal. The damages to his ship's hull were serious, and the nearest planet that could have handled them was about three earth-days away from their current location.

"_It's going to take at least a week to get the repairs done ourselves_…." Zero thought, with a wince, before shutting down the terminal and sitting back in his chair. And yet, he could only consider himself and his crew fortunate that they had landed on the planet they had taken refuge on; to all appearances, it reminded many in his crew of what the earth had looked like, long ago. Tall, ancient trees seemed to stand watch over lush valleys filled with wildflowers, while clear, cool streams flowed uninterrupted through them.

"_To all appearances, it's a paradise_…._But why do I get the feeling that this is just a façade?_" Zero wondered, uneasily, as he stood and put his coat on. At this point, he was starting to understand why Harlock had always seemed to have a skeptical outlook on things like this….but then another thought occurred to him.

"_Where has he disappeared to? There's been no reports on his movements at all for a long time_…." Zero mused, his eyes narrowing at the thought.

"Captain?" a woman's voice asked, startling him from his train of thought for a few moments.

"Marina? Is something the matter?" Zero in turn asked, still feeling some surprise and concern for his First Officer. In response, Marina only sighed tiredly and shook her head.

"No, sir, nothing is wrong. Just making sure everybody who isn't on guard duty has hit the sack, that's all." Marina replied, as she entered the room; noticing, thanks to the monitor's screen, the amount of concern that was in Zero's eyes at that moment, "But you look more worried than usual tonight….Is something wrong?" At that, Zero could only inwardly smile at Marina's sharp intuition, and her ability to pick up on his unease.

"Just thinking, that's all….Wondering how Harlock has been doing these past few weeks. Nothing has been said of him in a long while, and something tells me that it shouldn't be this quiet." Zero murmured, thoughtfully….never realizing as he said that just what the next few days had in store for him….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Nothing made any sense anymore. Just when things seemed to have settled down after the Battle of Technologia, and most of the space pirate groups had gone back to their usual territories and ways of life, just one in particular had to stab him in the back. The attack had been sudden, and more than his fighter could handle alone….

"_Why the hell did I have to wander so far from the __**DeathShadow**__? How could I have been stupid enough to let my guard down like that?_" he wondered, as he slowly pulled himself out of his mangled fighter's pilot seat; just barely taking into account that he had been fortunate that the craft had made it through the planet's atmosphere in the first place. But he wasn't in much better shape, himself. Blood was dripping down one side of his face from a deep cut over his right eye, and breathing was becoming painful and difficult.

"_Must've punctured one of my lungs in the crash_…." He mused, wincing as he put a hand over the right side of his chest, and seeing shortly afterwards that there was a bleeding wound there as well.

"_Is there any help to be had on this planet? I don't remember there being any settlements_…." He mused, as he then began moving away from the downed fighter; knowing too well that if there were any carnivorous beasts nearby, they would smell his blood easily.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Elsewhere on the same planet, a pirate ship rested, hidden in the thick cover of the forest. Despite the peaceful outward appearance the planet they were now on showed them, many were uneasy. It also didn't help their nerves any, when they had seen how edgy their captain had become, thanks to one signal in particular awakening the restless spirit of the ship itself….

"_But what could have gotten him this upset? He hadn't even really been bothered by the Noo, so why this kind of reaction to one signal?_" the first mate wondered, as he and the rest of the crew on deck kept a close eye on everything there; wanting to be sure that they didn't miss any messages that might come through.

"Looks like the Captain's goin' out again." One of the other men murmured, when he'd seen the light signaling that one of the hatch doors had just opened came on, briefly, and then flickered off again.

"Yeah, but for what? We've been here for about five days now, and we still have no idea what he's lookin' for out there!" another of the crew grumbled, uneasily; flinching when the First Mate smacked him lightly on the head for his words.

"If it isn't for us to know, then all we can do is wait till he decides to tell us….Till then, all we can do is be vigilant." The navigation officer said, even though some worry belied her words. While it was true that their captain was a quiet and somewhat reclusive man, there were occasions when his behavior worried them.

"_And it doesn't help matters much, that La Miime hasn't been playing her harp any lately_…." The First Mate inwardly sighed, as he returned his attention to the monitors again. What was it that was bothering them to this point?

"_And will they ever tell us?_" almost all of the crew wondered, as their captain's unease became quite literally their own….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Everything was almost eerily quiet on board the _**Karyu**_, as the part of the crew on guard duty tiredly kept watch over the ship.

"Looks like we're almost done here, ne?" one man asked, glancing at his crewmate as he spoke. The other man yawned, then nodded.

"Yeah, and I can't wait to get to my bunk and get a few hours worth of sleep! It's so quiet here, that these details are almost boring enough to put a man to under!" the other guard muttered; his words getting a snicker as a response.

"I hear ya!" the first man mumbled, yet little did either of them realize just what the next day had in store for them…..

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

It seemed almost as though the woods were holding its' breath….Ishikura glanced around at the darkness around him edgily.

"_Damn, it's so quiet out here! What's going on?!_" Ishikura wondered; nervously feeling for his pistol, in case something lurked just beyond the reach of the portable lights.

"You're not getting nervous, are ya, Second Officer?" Grenadier asked, from his seat nearby.

"For the lack of something better to say, yes I am! And I am not ashamed to admit it!" Ishikura replied irritably back, then added, "It isn't normal for a forest to get this silent, unless something was wrong."

"I take it you grew up in a place like this?" Grenadier said, sounding intrigued about this revelation. Ishikura sighed and nodded; but never once took his eyes off of the heavy dark shadows.

"I stayed with my grandparents for two summers….My grandfather taught me how to listen to the sounds a forest makes….and the warnings when it goes silent like this." Ishikura murmured.

"So somethin' is wrong then? Any idea of what?" Grenadier questioned, as even more curiosity emerged about this.

"No idea…." Ishikura replied, uneasily. And the forest seemed to sense that it was being watched by the two pairs of eyes…withholding whatever was making it keep its' silence from the two men even longer.

"We might as well go ahead and go in, since our shift is pretty much up, Second Officer." Grenadier said, as he stood and stretched; a hint of skepticism emerging in his voice, at Ishikura's edginess, as well as for the reason for it. With no other words between them, both men returned to the inside of the ship….Though, if they had stayed just a moment longer, they would have seen one of the causes of the uneasy silence….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Barely able to think clearly enough to wait till the men on guard duty had disappeared within the ship, the injured young man moved unsteadily forward. Once he was within the ship's hallway, he paused; blinking painfully in response to the harsh lights there.

"_Damn_…_I'd forgotten that some ships have lighting like this_…." The young man silently growled; wincing as he put his right hand to his head in an effort to try and soothe the painful throbbing there, and leaning heavily against the wall, at the same time.

"_Not good_…_Losing my balance_…." He silently muttered, as the pain in his head and body seemed to attack him at once; making him lean even more on the wall, and slide down the length of it to the floor. There was barely enough strength left within him, when he heard what sounded like a woman suddenly gasp, and subsequently stop herself from screaming in horror at the state he was in….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Marina could only sigh tiredly, as she looked over the details for the next day, as she walked along the corridor towards the crew's quarters.

"_Kami only knows that all of them, even the Machine Men included, are tired enough to sleep for a month_…._But there's no other way to get the ship back into some kind of shape to fly_…." Marina wearily thought; looking up when she thought she saw someone appear in her path, and momentarily mistaking the person for a member of the crew coming in from guard duty.

"How did things look out…..?!" Marina started to say, yet felt it when her voice suddenly stopped in its' tracks, as a gasp mixed with what could have been a scream froze in her throat as well, and as she dropped the small computer in her hands and raced to the man's side.

"Harlock!" Marina finally managed to shout, as she kneeled beside the badly injured man; her raised voice just barely getting a reaction from him.

"M-miss…..Ohki….?" the young pirate struggled to whisper, yet seeming startled when the First Officer gently put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"D-don't try to talk…." Marina murmured; as she struggled to remain calm. From what she could see, right away, the young pirate was in dire straits; blood soaked the chest of his tattered blue uniform from several deep gashes….And she could easily hear that one of them was deep enough to reach one of his lungs.

"First Officer, what the…?! Holy shit!" Grenadier's voice suddenly yelped, as he and several other crewmembers appeared in the corridor, and as a few of them rushed over to try and see what they could do to help.

"Help me get him to sickbay, and then go and get Zero! Hurry!" Marina shouted, when she had turned to look over her shoulder at the men gathered there, her voice getting just the barest hint of its' usual edge in it, as she commanded them. With just the slightest hints of nods, some of them raced off to get the captain, while Grenadier and Ishikura (who had been at the back of the group until then) remained there to help lift and carry the severely wounded pirate.

"What the hell happened?" Grenadier growled, as he carefully lifted the dying pirate from the floor; feeling minutely sickened, despite himself, at the sight of the blood smeared on the wall and floor.

"I don't know….but there's no time to find out now." Marina said, softly, as she did what she could to stanch the bleeding, while they ran to sickbay. By now, Harlock was now firmly unconscious; the pain and blood-loss having finally overwhelmed him.

"…._And his injuries look severe_…._Do we even have what it takes to keep him alive?_" Ishikura wondered, as they arrived in sickbay, and they watched as the space pirate was rushed into surgery….Hoping that this last-ditch effort wasn't going to be a futile one….


	2. Meeting A Legend

Part Two: Meeting a Legend

It had been hours since they had last heard from him. Tochiro nervously paced back and forth across the command deck; shredding one edge of his worn brown cloak between his hands as he went.

"Worrying yourself sick isn't going to help matters any, Tochiro." A woman's voice murmured, quietly; yet her own tone of voice hid the concern she was also feeling for the missing pirate captain.

"Dammit, I know, Emeraldas, I know! But it isn't like Harlock to just go and disappear like this! Even the _**DeathShadow**_ can't pick up any trace of his fighter, or the tracking signal he'd had on his belt!" Tochiro nearly shouted in frustration, as he gripped the handle of his katana tightly, in an effort to rein in his temper, "I just wish I knew what the hell had happened to him….I keep getting the feeling that something is really wrong…" Hearing how much this distressed him, Emeraldas couldn't help but embrace him and silently agree. But where could their friend have disappeared to?

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

It had taken mere seconds, and only a few words, to awaken Zero from semi-sound sleep. Within moments, he was up, dressed, and racing down the hallway with a few rather-panicked members of his crew to the sickbay.

"_How the hell had this happened?! Harlock is now on board the __**Karyu**__, badly injured and possibly dying_….._How had this happened?!_" Zero silently questioned, as they finally arrived in the sickbay….And the sight before him knocked the wind out of him. There lay his friend on one of the beds, hardly recognizable thanks to the machines he had been attached to in an effort to keep him alive.

"Good God…." Zero managed to say, after a few moments. The younger man's face was paler than it had ever been before, and his chest was swathed in bandages. Bloodstains could be seen soaking through them; telling all around him just how serious the wounds beneath them were.

"How did this happen?" Zero finally asked, as he looked to the doctors and surgeons within the sickbay for the answer.

"We can't be certain, Captain, but it looks like he'd just barely survived a crash-landing in a one-man fighter…." The head doctor in the sickbay replied, "He had multiple fractures in his ribs, and several pieces of shrapnel in his chest and abdomen….one of them had punctured his right lung and barely missed his heart."

"_By all accounts, my friend, you should have been dead long before now_…._How did you manage it? What is it that is keeping your heart beating?_" Zero wondered, in amazement, as he gazed at the space pirate's strangely still face.

"Captain, what should we do now? You know that the government wants him, dead or alive….They won't care which condition he's in, as long as the wanted man is turned in." one of the surgeons said, voicing the uncertainty that was certainly within the rest of the crew at that moment. Yet the surgeon stepped back a little bit, when a grave look crossed their captain's face.

"Help him for as long as it is possible to do so….As it stands right now, we may as well be considered outlaws to those on earth, since we had allowed the pirates to help us at Technologia, and then let them go." Zero replied, his voice sounding quieter and possibly even more dangerous than they had ever heard from him before, "As it is, we probably have bounties on our own heads, by now." And from the looks on their faces, as the situation dawned on them, Zero had raised a very valid point. Even though they were all considered heroes to Technologia's people, to the Mechanized Empire, becoming a space pirate's ally had made them almost pirates themselves!

"Then we'll all do everything we can….But there is one more problem, Captain." The lead doctor murmured.

"What is it?" Zero questioned, in turn; almost sensing that the uncertainty was turning to something other than the trouble they were potentially in.

"His blood type. From what we have been able to discover, sir, Harlock has a rare blood type….No one on board shares it, and a transfusion of the wrong type could be deadly." The lead doctor replied, as grave certainty began to appear on his face.

"Damn…." Was all Zero could think of to say, when this bit of news was told to him. Harlock was dying, desperately needed a transfusion, and yet none of the humans on board could be of any help….And they couldn't call out for help, either.

"_A rare blood-type_…._and you chose the most dangerous lifestyle of them all._" Zero mused, as he watched the space pirate breathe for a few moments more, then turned to leave.

"What do we do now, Captain?" Grenadier asked, as he, Marina, and Ishikura met him in the hall outside of the sickbay; each one of them showing, in their own ways, concern for the wounded pirate. For a few moments, Zero remained silent, then gave them an unreadable look.

"Get in touch with the _**DeathShadow**_ as soon as you can. If anything, they might know of a way to save Harlock." Zero commanded; looking specifically at Marina as he said that.

"Yes sir!" Marina replied, then took off down the hallway towards the bridge.

"What should we do in the meantime, Captain?" Ishikura asked, as he and Grenadier stood ready to be of assistance in any way they could.

"See if you can speed up the repairs on the hull, as well as all of the damaged decks. We might need to move even sooner than planned." Zero answered, before also rushing off towards the bridge.

"Right!" both men nearly shouted, as they hurried towards the nearest hatch that led outside…and in their rush also forgetting to close it behind them….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Morning was only a few hours away, and yet the forest was still cloaked in its' heavy shadows and the beginnings of fog. It helped the man who now stealthily moved through it; keeping him hidden from any that could have possibly seen him. Not that any would have, at any rate; a heavy black cloak hid his features from view, as well. All night, he had been following a small, weak signal on what appeared to be a sort of communications link; the worry that had settled in his heart only growing, the further he went.

"…._This signal could only belong to one of them; the fighter I'd found two nights ago also points to that_…._But which one?_" the shadowed man wondered, as he remembered the twisted remains of the space fighter he'd stumbled across during one of his 'patrols', as well as his own reaction when he'd seen the skull-and-crossbones symbol on its' side.

"_It hadn't looked like the fighters the Afressians had used_…._at least, not according to what Emeraldas had described to me_…." He mused, yet quickly reacted, when the sounds of men's voices started reaching his ears.

"_Some of them sound like Machine Men, while the others sound human_…_A mixed crew?_" the man silently questioned; intrigued by this just enough to follow the sounds to their source. It didn't take him long to find out where the voices were coming from, yet he wasn't surprised in the least to see the battleship there.

"_Looks as though someone had managed to get those blueprints for the new battleships approved and built after all_…." He thought, as he watched the crew struggle to repair some rather-serious looking holes in the hull; their pace seeming oddly rushed, to him. It was then that he looked back at the signal, and noticed that the small light was beginning to stop flashing, and maintain a steady glow….even though the light itself was still very faint.

"_Seems that whoever I'm looking for is within the ship_…_I think the 'fun' part of this is about to begin_…." He inwardly muttered, as a hint of chagrin crossed his face at the idea, "_If I get myself caught again, my crew will never let me hear the end of it._" Sooner than he'd anticipated, the opportunity to get inside of the ship came to him; just as soon as two more men emerged from one of the hatches near the bow of the ship. Almost as silently as a ghost, he swiftly entered; pausing for a few moments, to allow his vision to adjust to the harsh lights.

"_The lighting in these things has gotten brighter_…" he inwardly muttered, before carefully beginning to make his way down the hall. Stranger still, he noticed, was the lack of any guards in the hallway as he went…A tall, black-clothed man wandering through the ship should have been immediately seen to….And yet, there was nothing.

"_Strange. Even the Mazone kept a better watch over their ships than this_…._Is this a trap?_" he silently asked, as he felt for his weapons just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. Yet still, the light from the small tracking device continued to shine; almost seeming to silently urge him to keep going and find out who was at the end of it. He finally got to where the signal was the strongest, a few moments later…Though it didn't help to ease his apprehension any, that he'd ended up right in front of the door leading into the ship's sickbay.

"_I don't like this_…." He uneasily thought, as he placed one hand on his gravity saber, and waited for the door to open.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

It had been only a few moments since he had sensed the captain of the ship enter the battleship; already beginning to curse his inability to really help his old friend with this, as he had before.

"_He's getting more nervous_….._that isn't like him at all. What's he facin' in there?_" the ghost wondered, as part of him struggled to stay by his friend's side for as long as possible; watching his back for trouble, as well as keeping an eye on the signal he had been following. He silently watched as the door in front of them slid open, allowing them to enter…..At first, there was no sign that anything was amiss; as far as could be told, everything looked normal. Yet it was seconds after the pirate captain had entered, that he caught sight of who was behind the signal….and horror couldn't describe how he now felt, as he rushed over to the younger man's side.

"_Holy shit_…._Young Harlock_…." The voice at the back of the pirate's mind muttered, as the pirate himself reached out and placed a gloved hand on the younger man's forehead.

"_That fighter I had found had been __his__!_" his mind nearly yelped, as he remembered the mangled fighter, and then matched the injuries to it.

"_Looks like someone had attacked him, and this had been the first help he'd found._" The ghost said; feeling it, when pure rage began to take root within his friend's soul.

"_And since the crew of this ship had tried to help him, it rules them out as having been the ones that had attacked him._" The pirate thought, as he forced himself to calm down enough to think clearly.

"What the hell?!" a man's voice suddenly yelped, from behind the pirate; getting a blindingly swift reaction from the cloaked man as he unsheathed his gravity saber and turned to face the newcomer….the tip of the saber ending up just inches from the other man's throat.

"The answers to your own questions will wait. For now, I want my questions answered." The pirate growled, softly, "Where is the captain of this ship?"

"O-on the bridge…." The crewman squeaked, "W-why do y-you want to know?" The pirate didn't answer him, yet instead silently looked aside to see that some doctors and nurses were just arriving, and the lead doctor was with them.

"What are the extent of his wounds?" the pirate again questioned, this time directing the inquiry to the doctors.

"He has deep shrapnel wounds on his chest and abdomen, a punctured lung and severe blood loss…His chances…of recovery…are slim, at best." One of them replied, hesitantly; nearly shuddering when the man he was talking to briefly glanced at him.

"…And we're doing all we can, to keep him alive." The lead doctor finally said, "But without a transfusion of his own blood type, even a will as strong as his won't be able to pull him through." The lead doctor spoke calmly; somehow managing to look at the pirate directly without flinching. He noticed when a hint of some emotion briefly emerged in the pirate's eye, and when the man looked back at the badly injured young man lying almost lifelessly on the bed beside him.

"Then call your captain. I need to have a word with him." The pirate quietly said, before removing his hooded cloak, and draping it over the back of a nearby chair…a move that seemed to stun almost all of those in the sickbay with him.

"_You sure about this, Harlock? Y'know that if you give blood here, it's gonna leave you weak, and you won't be able to run if you need to._" The ghostly voice stated, in the back of his mind, rather worriedly.

"_If you're that worried, Tochiro, then get in touch with La Miime, and have her get the crew's attention._" The pirate replied, a rough edge emerging in his mental voice at the implied need to abandon the younger man that had been in the ghost's voice. "_I'm __not__ going to let my son die like this._"

"_I wasn't implyin' that you should, old friend._" Tochiro muttered, reeling back a little from the force in his friend's words, "_Sheesh._"

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

It hadn't been five minutes since the call had gone out, when Zero was alerted to what was going on in sickbay now. And when he arrived, he could almost feel his crew's unease as well as their shock in response to learning the identity of the man who had mysteriously turned up there.

"I take it you're the captain of this ship?" the dark-clothed pirate asked, from where he stood beside the younger pirate's bed.

"Yes…I am this ship's captain." Zero replied, as he boldly faced the older pirate, "What brought you here?"

"Does a father need any specific reason to save his son?" the older pirate questioned, in response; his words surprising Zero to no end.

"_His_…_father? Who would have guessed that he had even still been alive till now?_" Zero wondered, as shock gave way to a tentative hope for the younger pirate's survival.

"Captain! We're in touch with the _**DeathShadow**_ now! Should we go ahead and give them the coordinates for this planet?" Marina's voice asked, through the intercom.

"Go ahead, Marina. The sooner they know the better." Zero replied, knowing that in any other circumstance, his response would have surprised the older pirate…and he didn't dare cross him the wrong way.


	3. Those Desiring Vengeance

Part Three: Those Desiring Vengeance

The news of their captain's injury had almost automatically awakened a sense of urgency and near-panic within the crew, as the younger Tochiro raced to get the _**DeathShadow**_ to his friend's side with time to spare.

"_Someone shot down his fighter_…_and now he's fighting for his life on Zero's ship! Shit! It's no wonder no signals have been getting through!_" Tochiro thought, as he handed the coordinates to the planet where the _**Karyu**_ now waited to the ship's navigator, and then stood ready behind the ship's wheel for liftoff.

"_It shouldn't be me standing here_…._and it shouldn't be me giving this order_…" Tochiro thought, yet felt a part of him silently vow that he would hunt down the ones who had shot his best friend down, and he would make them pay dearly.

"_**DeathShadow**_, Hasshin." Tochiro almost growled, and felt it when the ship responded to the spoken command.

"_Hang on, Harlock_…._we're coming._"

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Zero could only watch in silence, as his ship allowed the older pirate crew to enter. Men who had been only mere legends to him and his own crew just a few days before, were suddenly right there with them. The most noteworthy of them all was their captain.

"_And like any worried parent, he's still at his son's side; waiting to give blood._" Zero thought, as he took a seat not too far away from the elder Harlock.

"It's unusual to find honor like yours', Captain." The older pirate finally said; his voice quieter than Zero had imagined it would ever be, yet his words surprising Zero into looking directly at him.

"Why do you say that?" Zero asked, curious as to why he had said that.

"You're a career soldier, as I once was. From what I could tell, your mission had once been to bring my son in for the Machine Empire….and it hadn't mattered to them if he was dead or alive on your mission's completion. And yet, from the looks of things here, you won't be completing that particular mission….Correct?" the elder Harlock asked, in turn, as he then gave Zero a look that couldn't easily be read. Zero nodded.

"He'd helped us at the Battle of Technologia, by gathering reinforcements….and allowing his own ship to take a few hits for us, when our ship was immobilized there." Zero replied, honestly, "I can't repay a debt like that by stabbing him in the back. "

"_And he means it_…_Maybe it'll be safe enough to give blood here, after all_…" the older Tochiro murmured; actually feeling somewhat stunned by Zero's determination to not betray anyone who had so recently become an ally.

"Then I will also trust you." The elder Harlock murmured, then spoke into a comm-link he had kept out of sight until then, "First Officer."

"Yeah, Captain?" Yattaran's voice replied, seconds later.

"Have Maji send over as many engineers as he can. This ship needs to be able to fly as soon as possible. Understood?" the elder Harlock quietly commanded.

"Aye, sir! But why?" Yattaran questioned, his shock and confusion easily heard in his voice.

"If the ones who had attacked this ship and my son return to make sure that they had succeeded in grounding them, we all need to be ready to fly…And this ship needs to be better able to protect Young Harlock." The elder Harlock replied; his tone becoming almost a low growl, when he thought of what had happened before.

"Then you know who had done this?" Zero asked; hardly believing what was happening before him, as he spoke. The older pirate shook his head.

"No, but I have an idea…." Was the only answer the elder Harlock gave Zero, before the sickbay's main doctor entered the room; giving the pirate a look, to which he merely nodded to, then removed the glove from his left hand, and rolled up the sleeve of his uniform.

"_What are his suspicions?_" Zero wondered, as he watched the other man for a few more moments, then left the sickbay; heading for the bridge, so he could tell his own crew what to expect in the next few hours….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

It was hours after her ship had received the faint distress signal, and for the first time in so long, true worry was emerging within her.

"_It couldn't be Harlock who had sent it, though_…_Knowing how stubborn he is, he would never admit defeat to anyone_…_and his son is just as strong-willed._" The shadow-enshrouded woman thought, as she uneasily stood and took up her position at her ship's wheel.

"Captain?" one shadow near her asked, when it had noticed her do this.

"Yes, Rowena?" the woman replied, as she briefly took her own gaze from the viewscreen in front of her, and looked at the android that had just spoken.

"We're approaching the signal's origin…and it seems that there are at least two more ships responding to it." 'Rowena' answered, even though there seemed to be a hint of confusion in her voice, "The source ship is a military-class battleship, though."

"Military? Has he been captured after all?" the woman at the wheel questioned, as confusion also appeared on her face, "Rowena, see if you can raise the other two ships on the communications. I need to know what the hell is going on."

"Yes, Captain!" Rowena replied, then did as she was told; neither one aware of what would come next for them….

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

The reports were all the same. Even though the number of space pirate attacks had been on the rise, since the mysterious incident over a month before, none of them had been by Harlock or his crew.

"_What the hell could this mean, though? A ship as powerful as the __**Arcadia**__ couldn't just disappear without a trace!_" Illita thought, as he sat at his desk and scowled at the disks that held said reports; wondering where his eternal nemesis had gotten to as he did so. It had barely been five months since the aliens calling themselves the 'Noo' had made the earth vanish, and not too long afterwards, Harlock had made it reappear again….Yet another thing confused him, moreso than that…in a different part of space, another man calling himself Harlock had gathered together other pirate ships, and had helped out a military cruiser in a battle to defend Technologia.

_He can't possibly be in two places at once_…_And the man I have been chasing wouldn't stand for another man to share his name_…_Unless_…" Illita mused, as he absently turned on his computer console and began typing in the name of the space pirate he knew the most about….Not really expecting to get the information he got next….Within seconds, his computer had brought up a file on his nemesis, and he was soon afterwards staring into the eyes of a much-younger Captain Harlock. The soldier in the photo wore a red Solar Federation uniform, and gazed solemnly ahead; his brown eyes showing the same iron-will he'd had the last time Illita had seen him.

"Phantom Harlock III….Age thirty, Rank Captain, first-class. Commanded the _**DeathShadow**_ until the end of the Earth-Illumidas War….Damn, he'd been a soldier before becoming a pirate…No wonder I keep getting my ass kicked…." Illita muttered, as he mentally kicked himself for not having thought of doing this sooner. He read on.

"_Hmm_…_Looks as though he'd been married at some point_…._Damn, the poor bastard_…_Wife got killed __and__ he got an eye shot out_…_But what's this_…_?_" Illita wondered, as another file opened up before him, and he subsequently felt his jaw drop. Again, he was looking at a young man's military records, but this time, a different pair of brown eyes gazed out from a photo at him.

"Phantom IV….damn….This man is…." Illita mumbled, as his mind struggled to comprehend the connection between his nemesis and the younger pirate.

"_Father and son_…._The pirate I have been chasing, and the one who had been in the battle at Technologia, are father and son! How the hell could that fact have been missed?!_" Illita silently shouted, as he shut off his computer terminal and sat back in his seat; his mind reeling in disbelief.

"_Harlock's wife had lived just long enough to give birth to a son_…._He stayed with friends of the family until a certain point and then boarded his father's ship_…._Stayed aboard for about two or three years, then returned to earth. Entered a military academy when he was about eighteen, graduated with top honors at age twenty-two_…_Was assigned to the __**Vengeance**__ when the Earth/Machine War broke out_…_Was severely injured when the ship was boarded during the Battle at the Rim, and spent about a year recovering from that_…_Became a space pirate shortly afterwards_…" Illita silently remembered; his eyes narrowing at the last few sentences, "_In many ways, his luck hasn't been any better than his father's_…."

"Chief?" a voice asked, startling Illita from his musings, and getting him to look at the viewscreen for the comm near him.

"Yes?" Illita replied.

"The Commander is wanting to have a word with you, sir. You aren't busy at the moment, are you?" the other man asked, a little nervously. Illita shook his head (yet still made sure that his computer terminal was turned off completely, just in case).

"Go ahead and tell him that I was about to head out, and you'd caught me at the right time." Illita answered, calmly. The other man nodded.

"Will do, sir." The other man said, before his image disappeared from the screen.

"_I have the feeling that my mission isn't over yet_…" Illita inwardly sighed, as he then stood and gathered whatever else he had brought with him earlier; knowing that a long night awaited him….But how long would it truly turn out to be?

Vvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

They had arrived in the system even swifter than he could have guessed. From his seat on the bridge, he watched as the three vessels appeared; completely unaware that they were being watched by him or his crew, or the crews of the rest of the ships near them.

"Looks like the _**DeathShadow, **_the _**Queen Emeraldas**_, and the _**Neo Queen Emeraldas**_ have come to find Harlock….How could they know which planet he had crashed on?" the shadowed man asked, ominously.

"No idea, sir. We've been monitoring all communications bands, and nothing has gotten through to get their attention." One man said, as he looked up from the computers in front of him to look at the captain of the ship.

"Is that so? I somehow doubt it." The shadowed man almost growled, as he then stood; not taking his visible eye off of the screens in front of him, " Get ready to attack."

"Attack, sir?! You've gotta be kiddin'!" another of the pirates on deck yelped, as pure fear began to appear in his eyes at the idea, "Nobody who has ever faced those three ships in battle has ever returned to tell the tale!"

"We attack now. Is that clear?" the captain snarled, as a stray breeze moved what appeared to be half of a cloth mask away from the part of his face it covered….revealing an almost acid-scarred portion of his face, and the remains of his left eye.

"Y-yes sir…." The pirate squeaked; terrified and minutely sickened by what he'd just seen.

"_We're __all__ about to die_…." Was the general thought of the crew on deck, as they prepared to go into battle, and as the madman in command of their ship sat back down and silently watched them….


End file.
